1980–81 Boston Bruins season

1980–81 Boston Bruins
1980–81 Boston Bruins
Division	2nd Adams
1980–81 record	37–30–13
Team information
General manager	Harry Sinden
Coach	Gerry Cheevers
Captain	Wayne Cashman
Alternate captains	None
Arena	Boston Garden
	← 1979–80 1981–82 →

The 1980–81 Boston Bruins season was the Bruins' 57th season.

Offseason

Regular season

Final standings

Adams Division
	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
Buffalo Sabres	80	39	20	21	327	250	99
Boston Bruins	80	37	30	13	316	272	87
Minnesota North Stars	80	35	28	17	291	263	87
Quebec Nordiques	80	30	32	18	314	318	78
Toronto Maple Leafs	80	28	37	15	322	367	71

^[1]Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against
Note: Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.

League standings^[2]
R		Div	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
1	p – New York Islanders	PTK	80	48	18	14	355	260	110
2	x – St. Louis Blues	SMY	80	45	18	17	352	281	107
3	y – Montreal Canadiens	NRS	80	45	22	13	332	232	103
4	Los Angeles Kings	NRS	80	43	24	13	337	290	99
5	x – Buffalo Sabres	ADM	80	39	20	21	327	250	99
6	Philadelphia Flyers	PTK	80	41	24	15	313	249	97
7	Calgary Flames	PTK	80	39	27	14	329	298	92
8	Boston Bruins	ADM	80	37	30	13	316	272	87
9	Minnesota North Stars	ADM	80	35	28	17	291	263	87
10	Chicago Black Hawks	SMY	80	31	33	16	304	315	78
11	Quebec Nordiques	ADM	80	30	32	18	314	318	78
12	Vancouver Canucks	SMY	80	28	32	20	289	301	76
13	New York Rangers	PTK	80	30	36	14	312	317	74
14	Edmonton Oilers	SMY	80	29	35	16	328	327	74
15	Pittsburgh Penguins	NRS	80	30	37	13	302	345	73
16	Toronto Maple Leafs	ADM	80	28	37	15	322	367	71

17	Washington Capitals	PTK	80	26	36	18	286	317	70
18	Hartford Whalers	NRS	80	21	41	18	292	372	60
19	Colorado Rockies	SMY	80	22	45	13	258	344	57
20	Detroit Red Wings	NRS	80	19	43	18	252	339	56
21	Winnipeg Jets	SMY	80	9	57	14	246	400	32

Divisions: ADM – Adams, NRS – Norris, PTK – Patrick, SMY – Smythe

bold – The top 16 teams in the league qualified for the playoffs, regardless of division or conference.
x – Won division; y – Won Conference (and division); p – Won Presidents' Trophy (and conference and division)

Record vs. opponents

Adams Division record vs. opponents

Vs. Wales Conference

Vs. Adams Division

1980–81 NHL records^[3]
Team	BOS	BUF	MIN	QUE	TOR	Total
Boston	—	2–1–1	2–1–1	1–3	1–1–2	6–6–4
Buffalo	1–2–1	—	0–1–3	3–0–1	3–1	7–4–5
Minnesota	1–2–1	1–0–3	—	2–2	0–4	4–8–4
Quebec	3–1	0–3–1	2–2	—	0–2–2	5–8–3
Toronto	1–1–2	1–3	4–0	2–0–2	—	8–4–4

Vs. Norris Division

1980–81 NHL records
Team	DET	HFD	LAK	MTL	PIT	Total
Boston	2−0−2	1−1−2	2−2	1−3	3−0−1	9–6–5
Buffalo	3−0−1	2−1−1	2−1−1	1−3	3−0−1	11–5–4
Minnesota	2−0−2	3−1	0−4	2−1−1	3−1	10–7–3
Quebec	3−0−1	2−2	1−3	1−1−2	1−2–1	8–8–4
Toronto	1−3	1–1−2	0−3−1	1−3	2−1–1	5–11–4

Vs. Campbell Conference

Vs. Patrick Division

1980–81 NHL records
Team	CGY	NYI	NYR	PHI	WSH	Total
Boston	1–3	2–2	2–2	2–2	2–1–1	9–10–1
Buffalo	2–1–1	2–2	2–1–1	2–0–2	2–0–2	10–4–6
Minnesota	2–2	0–2–2	1–1–2	1–2–1	3–0–1	7–7–6
Quebec	1–1–2	1–3	1–1–2	2–1–1	4–0	9–6–5
Toronto	2–2	1–3	2–2	2–0–2	1–3	8–10–2

Vs. Smythe Division

1980–81 NHL records
Team	CHI	COL	EDM	STL	VAN	WIN	Total
Boston	3−1	2−1−1	3−1	1−3	2−2	2−0−2	13−8−3
Buffalo	2−2	3–0−1	1−1−2	0−3−1	1−1−2	4−0	11−7−6
Minnesota	2−2	2−1–1	2−1−1	2−1–1	2−1−1	4−0	14−6−4
Quebec	0−3−1	2−2	3−1	1−2–1	1–1−2	1–1−2	8−10−6
Toronto	2−1–1	1−1−2	1−2−1	1−3	0–3−1	2−2	7−12−5

Schedule and results

Regular season schedule
No.	R	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
1	W	October 9, 1980	7–2	New York Rangers (1980–81)	1–0–0
2	L	October 11, 1980	2–5	@ New York Islanders (1980–81)	1–1–0
3	W	October 12, 1980	3–2	Montreal Canadiens (1980–81)	2–1–0
4	L	October 15, 1980	2–3	@ Minnesota North Stars (1980–81)	2–2–0
5	L	October 16, 1980	1–2	@ Calgary Flames (1980–81)	2–3–0
6	L	October 18, 1980	2–3	@ St. Louis Blues (1980–81)	2–4–0
7	L	October 22, 1980	0–4	@ Los Angeles Kings (1980–81)	2–5–0
8	L	October 24, 1980	2–3	@ Vancouver Canucks (1980–81)	2–6–0
9	T	October 26, 1980	7–7	@ Winnipeg Jets (1980–81)	2–6–1
10	L	October 30, 1980	1–3	Calgary Flames (1980–81)	2–7–1
11	L	November 2, 1980	2–4	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1980–81)	2–8–1
12	L	November 6, 1980	2–4	New York Islanders (1980–81)	2–9–1
13	W	November 9, 1980	7–4	Pittsburgh Penguins (1980–81)	3–9–1
14	T	November 11, 1980	4–4	@ Detroit Red Wings (1980–81)	3–9–2
15	T	November 13, 1980	5–5	Winnipeg Jets (1980–81)	3–9–3
16	W	November 15, 1980	7–4	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1980–81)	4–9–3
17	W	November 16, 1980	1–0	Philadelphia Flyers (1980–81)	5–9–3
18	W	November 20, 1980	4–2	Colorado Rockies (1980–81)	6–9–3
19	T	November 22, 1980	2–2	@ Washington Capitals (1980–81)	6–9–4
20	T	November 23, 1980	5–5	Toronto Maple Leafs (1980–81)	6–9–5
21	L	November 26, 1980	4–6	@ New York Rangers (1980–81)	6–10–5
22	T	November 27, 1980	3–3	Pittsburgh Penguins (1980–81)	6–10–6
23	W	November 29, 1980	6–3	Edmonton Oilers (1980–81)	7–10–6
24	W	December 2, 1980	5–3	Detroit Red Wings (1980–81)	8–10–6
25	L	December 6, 1980	1–4	@ Montreal Canadiens (1980–81)	8–11–6
26	W	December 7, 1980	7–3	Washington Capitals (1980–81)	9–11–6
27	W	December 10, 1980	6–4	@ Quebec Nordiques (1980–81)	10–11–6
28	L	December 11, 1980	3–5	Quebec Nordiques (1980–81)	10–12–6
29	L	December 13, 1980	1–2	Vancouver Canucks (1980–81)	10–13–6
30	W	December 14, 1980	7–1	Los Angeles Kings (1980–81)	11–13–6
31	L	December 17, 1980	4–5	@ Hartford Whalers (1980–81)	11–14–6
32	L	December 18, 1980	3–7	St. Louis Blues (1980–81)	11–15–6
33	T	December 20, 1980	4–4	Hartford Whalers (1980–81)	11–15–7
34	W	December 27, 1980	6–3	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1980–81)	12–15–7
35	L	December 28, 1980	2–5	@ Buffalo Sabres (1980–81)	12–16–7
36	W	December 31, 1980	4–2	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1980–81)	13–16–7
37	L	January 2, 1981	5–7	@ Edmonton Oilers (1980–81)	13–17–7
38	L	January 3, 1981	1–4	@ Colorado Rockies (1980–81)	13–18–7
39	W	January 5, 1981	4–1	@ Winnipeg Jets (1980–81)	14–18–7
40	W	January 8, 1981	7–4	Detroit Red Wings (1980–81)	15–18–7
41	W	January 10, 1981	3–2	@ New York Islanders (1980–81)	16–18–7
42	W	January 12, 1981	4–3	Minnesota North Stars (1980–81)	17–18–7
43	T	January 13, 1981	3–3	@ Detroit Red Wings (1980–81)	17–18–8
44	L	January 15, 1981	2–3	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1980–81)	17–19–8
45	W	January 17, 1981	6–4	Philadelphia Flyers (1980–81)	18–19–8
46	W	January 19, 1981	5–1	Buffalo Sabres (1980–81)	19–19–8
47	W	January 22, 1981	7–3	St. Louis Blues (1980–81)	20–19–8
48	L	January 24, 1981	4–6	Los Angeles Kings (1980–81)	20–20–8
49	W	January 26, 1981	5–3	Colorado Rockies (1980–81)	21–20–8
50	W	January 29, 1981	7–6	Winnipeg Jets (1980–81)	22–20–8
51	W	February 1, 1981	6–3	New York Islanders (1980–81)	23–20–8
52	T	February 4, 1981	3–3	@ Hartford Whalers (1980–81)	23–20–9
53	W	February 5, 1981	6–3	New York Rangers (1980–81)	24–20–9
54	L	February 7, 1981	2–6	@ Montreal Canadiens (1980–81)	24–21–9
55	L	February 8, 1981	3–4	Quebec Nordiques (1980–81)	24–22–9
56	T	February 12, 1981	3–3	@ Colorado Rockies (1980–81)	24–22–10
57	W	February 14, 1981	5–4	@ Los Angeles Kings (1980–81)	25–22–10
58	W	February 18, 1981	7–5	@ Vancouver Canucks (1980–81)	26–22–10
59	W	February 20, 1981	5–1	@ Edmonton Oilers (1980–81)	27–22–10
60	L	February 21, 1981	2–7	@ Calgary Flames (1980–81)	27–23–10
61	L	February 25, 1981	3–5	@ Quebec Nordiques (1980–81)	27–24–10
62	W	February 26, 1981	5–1	Minnesota North Stars (1980–81)	28–24–10
63	W	March 1, 1981	6–4	Buffalo Sabres (1980–81)	29–24–10
64	L	March 3, 1981	2–4	@ St. Louis Blues (1980–81)	29–25–10
65	T	March 4, 1981	3–3	@ Minnesota North Stars (1980–81)	29–25–11
66	W	March 7, 1981	7–1	Chicago Black Hawks (1980–81)	30–25–11
67	W	March 8, 1981	4–1	Vancouver Canucks (1980–81)	31–25–11
68	T	March 11, 1981	4–4	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1980–81)	31–25–12
69	W	March 13, 1981	7–1	@ Washington Capitals (1980–81)	32–25–12
70	W	March 15, 1981	4–2	Hartford Whalers (1980–81)	33–25–12
71	L	March 18, 1981	2–3	@ New York Rangers (1980–81)	33–26–12
72	L	March 19, 1981	3–5	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1980–81)	33–27–12
73	W	March 21, 1981	4–3	Calgary Flames (1980–81)	34–27–12
74	W	March 23, 1981	7–2	Edmonton Oilers (1980–81)	35–27–12
75	L	March 26, 1981	2–3	Toronto Maple Leafs (1980–81)	35–28–12
76	W	March 28, 1981	5–2	Chicago Black Hawks (1980–81)	36–28–12
77	T	March 30, 1981	2–2	@ Buffalo Sabres (1980–81)	36–28–13
78	L	April 2, 1981	2–3	Washington Capitals (1980–81)	36–29–13
79	W	April 4, 1981	5–2	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1980–81)	37–29–13
80	L	April 5, 1981	2–4	Montreal Canadiens (1980–81)	37–30–13

Playoffs

Player statistics

Regular season

Scoring

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	+/-	PPG	SHG	GWG
Rick Middleton	RW	80	44	59	103	16	15	16	4	7
Peter McNab	C	80	37	46	83	24	12	16	0	4
Brad Park	D	78	14	52	66	111	21	10	0	2
Wayne Cashman	LW	77	25	35	60	80	17	7	0	2
Raymond Bourque	D	67	27	29	56	96	29	9	1	6
Steve Kasper	C	76	21	35	56	94	9	5	0	1
Dwight Foster	RW	77	24	28	52	62	4	3	3	5
Terry O'Reilly	RW	77	8	35	43	223	2	0	0	0
Stan Jonathan	LW	74	14	24	38	192	5	0	0	2
Jean Ratelle	C	47	11	26	37	16	18	4	0	2
Dick Redmond	D	78	15	20	35	60	4	6	2	0
Don Marcotte	LW	72	20	13	33	32	3	4	1	2
Mike O'Connell	D	48	10	22	32	42	-1	2	1	0
Brad McCrimmon	D	78	11	18	29	148	27	1	0	1
Keith Crowder	RW	47	13	12	25	172	9	1	0	1
Mike Milbury	D	77	0	18	18	222	14	0	0	0
Bobby Lalonde	C	62	4	12	16	31	3	0	1	0
Doug Morrison	RW	18	7	3	10	13	5	2	0	0
Bob Miller	C	30	4	4	8	19	-5	0	1	1
Craig MacTavish	C	24	3	5	8	13	-1	0	0	0
Mike Gillis	LW	17	2	4	6	15	-2	0	0	0
Barry Pederson	C	9	1	4	5	6	-5	1	0	0
Larry Melnyk	D	26	0	4	4	39	-7	0	0	0
Al Secord	LW	18	0	3	3	42	2	0	0	0
Tom Songin	RW	9	1	1	2	6	0	0	0	1
Jim Craig	G	23	0	1	1	11	0	0	0	0
Rogie Vachon	G	53	0	1	1	6	0	0	0	0
Marco Baron	G	10	0	0	0	7	0	0	0	0
Gary Doak	D	11	0	0	0	12	-3	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	T	GA	GAA	SO
Rogie Vachon	3021	53	25	19	6	168	3.34	1
Jim Craig	1272	23	9	7	6	78	3.68	0
Marco Baron	507	10	3	4	1	24	2.84	0
Team:	4800	80	37	30	13	270	3.38	1

Playoffs

Scoring

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	PPG	SHG
Don Marcotte	LW	3	2	2	4	6	0	0
Mike O'Connell	D	3	1	3	4	2	0	1
Brad Park	D	3	1	3	4	11	1	0
Peter McNab	C	3	3	0	3	0	1	0
Bobby Lalonde	C	3	2	1	3	2	0	2
Terry O'Reilly	RW	3	1	2	3	12	0	0
Keith Crowder	RW	3	2	0	2	9	0	0
Dwight Foster	RW	3	1	1	2	0	0	0
Raymond Bourque	D	3	0	1	1	2	0	0
Wayne Cashman	LW	3	0	1	1	0	0	0
Steve Kasper	C	3	0	1	1	0	0	0
Brad McCrimmon	D	3	0	1	1	2	0	0
Rick Middleton	RW	3	0	1	1	2	0	0
Mike Milbury	D	2	0	1	1	10	0	0
Dick Redmond	D	3	0	1	1	2	0	0
Marco Baron	G	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Mike Gillis	LW	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Stan Jonathan	LW	3	0	0	0	30	0	0
Jean Ratelle	C	3	0	0	0	0	0	0
Rogie Vachon	G	3	0	0	0	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	L	GA	GAA
Marco Baron	20	1	1	3	9.00
Rogie Vachon	164	3	2	16	5.85
Team:	184	3	3	19	6.20

^[4]

Note:

Pos = Position; GPI = Games played in; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes; +/- = Plus/minus; PPG = Power-play goals; SHG = Short-handed goals; GWG = Game-winning goals

Min, TOI = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T,T/OT = Ties; OTL = Overtime losses; GA = Goals-against; GAA = Goals-against average; SO = Shutouts; SA = Shots against; SV = Shots saved; SV% = Save percentage;

Awards and records

Transactions

Draft picks

Boston's draft picks at the 1980 NHL Entry Draft held at the Montreal Forum in Montreal.

Round	#	Player	Nationality	College/Junior/Club team (League)
1	18	Barry Pederson	Canada	Victoria Cougars (WHL)
3	60	Tom Fergus	Canada	Peterborough Petes (OHA)
4	81	Steve Kasper	Canada	Sorel Eperviers (QMJHL)
5	102	Randy Hillier	Canada	Sudbury Wolves (OMJHL)
6	123	Steve Lyons	United States	Matignon High School (USHS-MA)
7	144	Tom McMurchy	Canada	New Westminster Bruins (WHL)
8	165	Mike Moffat	Canada	Kingston Canadians (OMJHL)
9	186	Michael Thelven	Sweden	Djurgardens IF (Sweden)
10	207	Jens Ohling	Sweden	Djurgardens IF (Sweden)

Farm teams

References

^ Dinger, Ralph, ed. (2011). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book 2012. Dan Diamond & Associates. p. 152. ISBN 9781894801225.
^ "1980–81 NHL Standings". NHL.com. National Hockey League.
^ "All-Time NHL Results". NHL.com. Retrieved August 25, 2023.
^ "1980-81 Boston Bruins Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com. Retrieved June 9, 2009.

[nhl-gd-standings-1] Dinger, Ralph, ed. (2011). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book 2012. Dan Diamond & Associates. p. 152. ISBN 9781894801225.

[nhl-1981-2] "1980–81 NHL Standings". NHL.com. National Hockey League.

[3] "All-Time NHL Results". NHL.com. Retrieved August 25, 2023.

[4] "1980-81 Boston Bruins Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com. Retrieved June 9, 2009.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

v t e Boston Bruins
Founded in 1924 Based in Boston, Massachusetts
Franchise	Team General managers Coaches Players Captains Draft picks Seasons Current season
History	History (Original Six) Records Award winners Retired numbers Broadcasters
Personnel	Owner(s) Jeremy Jacobs General manager Don Sweeney Head coach Joe Sacco Team captain Brad Marchand Current roster
Arenas	Boston Arena Boston Garden TD Garden
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Affiliates	AHL Providence Bruins ECHL Maine Mariners
Media	TV NESN Radio WBZ-FM/Radio Network
Culture and lore	Warrior Ice Arena Rene Rancourt The Goal Willie O'Ree North Station "Bear and the Gang" "Kernkraft 400" Happy Gilmore The Sports Museum of New England The Big Bad Bruins The Kraut Line "Time to Go" 1956 exhibition game in Newfoundland 2010 NHL Winter Classic 2016 NHL Winter Classic 2019 NHL Winter Classic NHL Outdoors at Lake Tahoe 2023 NHL Winter Classic 65 wins 2024 Big City Greens Classic
Category WikiProject Commons

v t e Boston Bruins seasons
1920s	1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30
1930s	1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40
1940s	1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50
1950s	1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60
1960s	1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70
1970s	1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80
1980s	1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90
1990s	1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000
2000s	2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10
2010s	2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20
2020s	2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
Highlighted seasons indicate Stanley Cup championship

v t e 1980–81 NHL season
Patrick	Calgary NY Islanders NY Rangers Philadelphia Washington
Adams	Boston Buffalo Minnesota Quebec Toronto
Norris	Detroit Hartford Los Angeles Montreal Pittsburgh
Smythe	Chicago Colorado Edmonton St. Louis Vancouver Winnipeg
See also	Draft Waiver draft All-Star Game Stanley Cup playoffs Stanley Cup Finals

Offseason

Regular season

Final standings

Record vs. opponents

Vs. Wales Conference

Vs. Campbell Conference

Schedule and results

Playoffs

Player statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

Awards and records

Transactions

Draft picks

Farm teams

See also

References